Follett’s Bookstore, a long-standing campus-bookstore-turned-general-merchandise-store, will close its doors May 29, a few weeks after the spring semester ends.

JSM Development bought the property from Follett Corporation, based in River Grove, Ill., last week, said Elio DiStaola, director of campus relations for Follett’s. He said the two companies discussed ownership of the property, located at 627 S. Wright St. in Champaign, for some time. 

DiStaola said the closure was largely a business decision.

“Over some time, it was clear that the value of the property was increasing and sales were getting soft,” he said.

Jill Guth, director of commercial leasing at JSM, said the bookstore’s location has been on the company’s radar for five to seven years, but discussion escalated late last fall. She said JSM was looking to add four to five new retailers at the location. The company wants to add more food and clothing stores in this “strategic location on campus,” Guth said.

DiStaola said the campus bookstore stopped selling course materials in 2010. 

Since then, the store has sold only general merchandise like clothing, said Store Manager Alex Paul. 

Scott McCartney, senior associate director for retail operations at the Illini Union Bookstore, located at 809 S. Wright St. in Champaign, said business will not be affected too much. Sales from course materials that the Illini Union Bookstore would pick up from Follett’s happened a few years ago when it stopped selling textbooks, he said. McCartney is not expecting any change in the bookstore’s general merchandise sales either, and he said Gameday Spirit would likely pick up that business.

Gameday Spirit’s Green Street location manager Cory Shumard said he couldn’t be sure of the immediate impact that Follett’s closure would have on business. Gameday Spirit is scheduled to leave its current location around the same time as Follett’s closure. Bankier Apartments will construct a 14-story building at the spirit wear store’s current location.

“The landscape on campus after May is going to look a little bit different,” Shumard said. 

Brian Paragi, the store manager at T.I.S. College Bookstore, said any business effects from Follett’s closure remain to be seen. Like McCartney, he said most of the business the bookstore would have acquired from Follett’s happened in 2010.

T.I.S., located at 707 S. Sixth St. in Champaign, has felt some pressure from competition in book sales over the years, and Paragi said the competitors that have affected business the most are online retailers. Because of this pressure, T.I.S. recently scaled down the size of its JSM-owned store location from two floors to one.

Paragi said even though there are several other competitors that sell general merchandise and spirit wear, he believes sales should go up for those retail items.

“I would think that if you take one of the competitors out, we would all see an increase in merchandise sales,” Paragi said.

Ryan can be reached at [email protected].